Israel Annexations

Israel's 12th Parliament opened Monday on a fractious note as 15 leftist legislators refused to be sworn in by a lawmaker whose party calls for expelling Arabs from Israel. Yair Sprintzak, 77, of the right-wing Moledet party, administered the oaths under a law that makes the oldest member of the Knesset, or Parliament, its acting Speaker until a permanent Speaker is chosen.

Israel will annex the Jordan Valley and other Israeli-occupied areas of the West Bank if the Palestinians unilaterally declare statehood, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat on Monday. Netanyahu's statement, made in discussions with right-wing legislators, came a day after his Cabinet approved a proposal to cede more West Bank land to the Palestinians.

President Bush, in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, has echoed the statement of Secretary of State James A. Baker III that the idea of a "greater Israel" should be abandoned, National Public Radio said in a broadcast from Washington. Baker's exhortation, in a speech on May 22, was attacked by friends of Israel in Congress.

The Israeli government took the offensive Tuesday against President Bush's calls for a halt to settlement construction with a public blessing of a plan designed to integrate Israel proper with the occupied West Bank. "We have to arise and disperse ourselves in all the area, to settle all the territory . . . to the edge of the horizon," Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said.

The Israeli government took the offensive Tuesday against President Bush's calls for a halt to settlement construction with a public blessing of a plan designed to integrate Israel proper with the occupied West Bank. "We have to arise and disperse ourselves in all the area, to settle all the territory . . . to the edge of the horizon," Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said.

Several hundred Druze Arabs demonstrated on Monday, Syria's Independence Day, in protest against Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights. "The Golan is Syrian. We are part of Syria," chanted the demonstrators at Majdal Shams, main village in the area captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. About 400 people gathered on the Syrian side of a military dividing fence, waving Syrian flags and shouting encouragement to the protesters.

Israel will continue to expand settlements in annexed districts of Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, despite persistent objections from Washington, Israel's Foreign Minister David Levy said Thursday in a letter to Secretary of State James A. Baker III. The letter is expected to renew the friction that appeared to have receded with recent pledges by Israel to alter its settlement policies.

Israel will annex the Jordan Valley and other Israeli-occupied areas of the West Bank if the Palestinians unilaterally declare statehood, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat on Monday. Netanyahu's statement, made in discussions with right-wing legislators, came a day after his Cabinet approved a proposal to cede more West Bank land to the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's Cabinet, overcoming suspicions that Israel is setting a course that will cost it territory it now occupies, on Sunday ratified Shamir's decision to enter U.S.-organized Middle East peace talks. Only three of 20 Cabinet ministers voted against Shamir's decision, which was made conditional on the selection of Palestinian negotiators suitable to Israel.

Israel will continue to expand settlements in annexed districts of Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, despite persistent objections from Washington, Israel's Foreign Minister David Levy said Thursday in a letter to Secretary of State James A. Baker III. The letter is expected to renew the friction that appeared to have receded with recent pledges by Israel to alter its settlement policies.

President Bush, in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, has echoed the statement of Secretary of State James A. Baker III that the idea of a "greater Israel" should be abandoned, National Public Radio said in a broadcast from Washington. Baker's exhortation, in a speech on May 22, was attacked by friends of Israel in Congress.

Several hundred Druze Arabs demonstrated on Monday, Syria's Independence Day, in protest against Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights. "The Golan is Syrian. We are part of Syria," chanted the demonstrators at Majdal Shams, main village in the area captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. About 400 people gathered on the Syrian side of a military dividing fence, waving Syrian flags and shouting encouragement to the protesters.

Israel's 12th Parliament opened Monday on a fractious note as 15 leftist legislators refused to be sworn in by a lawmaker whose party calls for expelling Arabs from Israel. Yair Sprintzak, 77, of the right-wing Moledet party, administered the oaths under a law that makes the oldest member of the Knesset, or Parliament, its acting Speaker until a permanent Speaker is chosen.